WAIREKA DAY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 349, 29 March 1910, Page 8

WAIREKA DAY.

JI RILEE REJOICING AND THANKSGIVING. A NOTABLE GATHERING OF VETERANS. YtsLerday, the 23tli day of March, ll»;0, was the fiftieth anniversary of the tattle of Waireka, the engage n/«at lMObi vividly remembered of all the encounters between the British troops *lll] the Maoris during the progress of the Maori war in North Taranaki. The force ei'g:»ged was not large. Each succeeding celebration of Waireka Day, each rtll-call of Taranaki's pioneer soldiers, tsch gathering of thoste -wnom we r> w term and honour as the '•Veterans'," sees the little force steadily thinn'j.ff. Father Time accomplishing as tlv ;,eiiis go flert;ng bv the work that the tui liulent natives of Taranaki set as tin ir task that eventful day, fifty years ago. The "Waireka Veterans," photographed yesterday 'neatli the sheltering walls of historic St. Mary's Church, probably only twenty in all, made a pathetic picture yet an ennobling one, as the eye 3 dimmed by years flashed again and bent sliouldersl and heads proudly lifted, and why? Their' old colours, bearing the word "Waireka" in unmistakable lettering, floated oer them. ' ~i j "FALL-IN."

To Bugler Walker, formerly of the Wellington Rifles, one of those who fought through the disturbance in South Taranaki, and one who was present at the memorable fight which robbed the Empire of that gallant soldier, Major Von Tempsky, was delegated the honor of siounding the "fall-in" yesterday morning, and the veterans formed lino in Brougham-street, almost on the exact spot from whence they marched so proudly, so jauntily, and so eagerly just fifty yeaj-s ago. The bugle also sounded out the old regimental call, "Tataraimaka, hi ho! To rout rebels oh! To 'Tat&raj to Tataraj to Tataraimaka, hi ho!" Colonel &llis> V.D., vice-president of the. local branch of the Veterans' Association (of which His Excellency the Governor is President), was in command, and Sergeant Duffin, wearing amongst his other decorations the Crimean war medal, "dressed" the men. In the march to Waireka tUe advance line was composted of Sergeant William Brown, Privates Wm. Bayly, William Olliver (both since dead of wounds received in the engagement) W> H. Pearce and Edward Bullot. Of these, the two last named marched yesterday. The -colors of the Taranaki Rifles, frail and fast reaching that state which will preclude their being paraded in these ceremonials, were placed at the head of the march, borne by Sergeant R. Wellsl and Private Kyngdon, with Captain , Isaac Bayly, Captain Newland, and Ser-geant-Major Armitage, representing the 4th N Wellington (Taranaki) battalion, as i> guard. Comment was made upon | the fact that the Taranaki Rifles, many

of whose original members fought at Waireka, did not muster, or even provide a party to guard the colors. For the nonce, Sergeant-Major Armitage resumed his com pan} 7 rank of colour-ser-geant. The Taranaki Garrison Band, under Mr. C. H. Anderson, headed the march to St. Mary's Church by way of Robe-street. THANKSGIVING SERVICE. The interior of St. Mary's Church liore the beautiful decorations made for the Easter celebrations. In addition, the memorial hatchments of H.M.S. Niger, the militia and volunteers, and the 65th Regiment, and the brass tablet erected to the memory of "the late Colonel Stapp, had been wreathed in laurel, this thoughtful tribute being the work of Miss Devenis'h. The service was con-

ducted by the Vkar, Rev. F. G. Evans, j and Mr. R. N. Renaud was at the organ,, whilst a section of the choir led the congregational worship. There was a small congregation, principally composed of re?atives of the veterans. The servkJe commenced with the singing. of the hymn "0 God, our help in ages past," followed by the "Te Deum." The Rev.. Evans baa«d his remarks on I the first verse of Psalm 115, "Not unto us, 0 Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name; give the praise for thy loving memory and for Thy truth's sake." The preacher thought that no words were more appropriate than these for the

text of that morning, arid He felt sure that the hearts of those" attending this service were being lifted up, not with, any pride in their own achievements, or anything that they themselves had done, but to the Lord God Almighty, whose loving mercy had brought them through the past fifty years' or more.. It was » I happy thought, he said, that| led the veterans to desire to parade at this historical church and return thanks to God for all these mercies. The grace of gratitude was a scaice virtue, but it was none the less beautiful, and very acceptable to our God. Th« preacher referred to the fact that it was customary right through the history of the race to thus- return thanks, *nd cited an instance. After the Battte of Agincourt, where the King himself ordered the chaplain to reatl to tinnr host this very psalm, commencing, ">iot unto us'. 0 Lord." And in this very church there had been some * r ery remarkable thanksgiving services, notably, that following the relief of Mafeking, the church being crammed mostly with men, who in many cases oould scarce keep back the tears as the dear old Archdeacon Govett offered up thanks to God. And so now thes'e men had com*; to' offer their gratitude' foi tht! victorJ at Waireka and for God's goodness in I the intervening years. In the case of Waireka, it seemed to him that much must have I#** due to God—the soldiers were so few against s'o many and seemingly forsaken by man and' so remarkably succoured by God. In sofne affairs of this kind the lapse of years had caused people to forget their gratitude to the Almighty, and to think that

after all it was tlieir own exertions, or their own bravery, that brought about victory. But how pleasing here to find that after 50 years we still felt that , God's help and blessing on that occasion must he remembered. j How their hearts mutt this morning ' go back to that other morning so loug ' ago, when they marched away so young and stalwart to defend the lives and homes of their fellow-tiettlers. He pointed out to this hearers that the blessing of God on that day and down through, the succeeding years should strengthen their trust in God, for the longer they lived the more they needed Him, and ' they would' need Him most in the last ' and greatest battle of all—the Battle of, Death. If He were not with them then, it would go hard wna them. They' could rest quite sure that the God who ; •tood by them at Waireka would stand j by them still in this lovely land where : no longer were heard the sounds of war and whence lie prayed they had for j ever banished. . | At the conclusion of the service, the

veterans were photographed, euid then marched back to the centre of the town, I where they were briefly addressed by] the Mayor, Mr. G. Tisch. He said that | this day might well be called Thanksgiving Day by the people of this district, for it was due to the brave deeds of these defenders of fifty yars ago that

we were now in peaceful occupation of I New Plymouth. They had nobly and gallantly responded to the call to arm*, Of the deeds done that day -he peed say ( little, for they were written in large letters in the history of Taranaki and of New Zealand. They had gone out,

met, and defeated a brave and resolute , foe, a race of people who were now liv-1 ing as loyal subjects of His) Majesty the King. After referring to the hardships through which they had passed m their pioneering days, His Worship ex-1 pressed his pleasure at seeing the veterans looking hale and hearty, and invited them to attend the Anniversary ' Day celebrations at Te Henui on Thursday. Cheer 3 were given by the as- '• semblage, followed by ringing salvoes for the Mayor, and for the Waireka veterans. , The parade then dismissed. ! ' j THE VETERANS AND THE RIFLE, j SOME GOOD SHOOTING, AN OCTOGENARIAN'S TALE. Some of the veterans afterwards journeyed to the Waiwakaiho rifle range to' | shoot a rifle match and to picnic. The I

rifle match took place, but no provision ■ for feeding the old gentlemen was made,' and so all hands necessarily went' hungry until the return to town shortly after four o'clock. The shooting match was of more than usual interest, 'because very few of the veterans had ever ' fired out of a modern service rifle; many J were of great iage, and all desired to show that the years had not robbed their hands of their cunning. As will be seen from .the appended figures, the scores are highly creditable. Ilnfamiliarity with the magazine rifle led to some initial difficulties, but these were soon surmounted. It was noticed that the veterans got their shots away very I rapidly—twice as quickly as is usual on a range. There were rnqny comments on the rifle that was new to most of them, one veteran remarking that he wished the troops hnd been 'armed with the Lee Enfield fifty years ago. Despite the absence of the "picnic"

part of the arrangement, great good nature and jollity prevailed. Captain : ■T. Black and Captain Cock were ranee officers. Sergeant Evans, of the local Guards, being fin excellent coach, and patiently explanatory in regard to the .303 rifle. The day was a little dull, and the slight wind was not sufficient tr> vary the shooting greatly. Mr. O'Donnpll. a veteran of the Crimea, wears the medal with tjie Alma and Tnkerman clasps and the bronze star won in 1852 for being the best shot In tlie British Armv, then in the field. Veteran O'Donnell, in conversation with a News reporter, spoke vividly of the old days. He reached his eightieth Tnrthdav last Boxing Day, and so his | •core of 55 is extremely creditable. TTe | recalls with pride the occasions on which On era 1 Pennefather, commanding tV ' second division in the Crimea, paraded tlie 55th and handed to him the coveted cvo=s inscribed "Best Shot." Colonel Dawbenv, then officer commanding the regiment, remarked to O'Donnell, "That medal is more valuable than a wardecoration." Narrating incidents of the battles of Alma and Inkerman, the veteran told how the Emperor Nicholas had assembled'the aristocracy from St. Petersburg before Alma, and had showed them the army he wa,s going to drive into the sea. Mr. O'Donnell. chuckling, told the storv of Alma and the lact

that tile British troops "cleared the hills in three and a-hnlf hour?." Marshal St. Arnaud. of the French Arnn\ is reputed to have remarked to a newlv arrived field officer on his staff: "Von ace the troops who cleared the heights of Alma, yes? Ah, these splendid En<r- | li?h: thev are nearlv all Irishmen, and I these Irishmen will fight anything!". Veteran O'Donnell latelv had the dis- j tinetion of shaking hands <w.ith Lord "Ki+^hener. The €lO allocated for prizes was yestprday increased hy £'2. the sift of Cantain Standish. Following are the sc»re* and the prize-list: —

| COMPLIMENTARY DINNER, I About sixty-five of the veterans, of whom many are survivors of the battle ■ of Waireka, met together at dinner in | the New Trocadero last night. Col. Ellis, V.D., the vice-president of the ! branch, presided. Great cordiality pre- : vailed, and the evening was passed in 1 toast, song and story. A full report of I the proceedings will be given in toj morrow's' issue.

200 '300 Total. Capt. G. Cock .. .. 31 33 64 Vet. Howell ... S3 27 (50 Vet. J. C. Daviea 33 27 29 60 Vet. J. Adlam .. 30 59 Vet. 'Eva .. 26 28 54 Vet. W. B Daviea 27 23 50 Vet. Giddy . .. .. 24 25 49 49 Vet. Pen warden .. 28 21 Vet. Greenway / .. 25 17 42 Vet. Newland ♦ « 23 20 41 Vet. Williams .. 24 14 38 Vet. Crone .. 17 18 35 34' Yet. Pepperell .. 6 28 Yet. Wills .. 25 6 31 Yet. Bill « 19 11 SO Vet. Andrews ,« 12 17. 29

Vet. Oxenham < .. 17 12 29 Vet Moon 13 13 S6 Vet. Lister 13 retired 13 Vet. G. Sampson .. retired 5 5 Vet. J. Sampson .. retired 2 2 The veterans upwards of 70 years,' of ago were classified apart. Results Vet. J. O'Donnell .. 31 24 55 Vet. Rock .. 32 17 40 Vet. R. Langman .. 21 23 44 Vet. King .. 21 0 21 Vet Robinson .. 14 0 14